


Should Be

by tigereyes45



Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-09-06 02:35:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20283985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tigereyes45/pseuds/tigereyes45
Summary: Draal somehow survives in the caves. Angor finds himself outside of the shadow realm. Something is keeping them alive. Two people who were long thought dead. Maybe they'll find a way back home, or to each other.





	Should Be

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a contest on tumblr, but I love these two so it's on here as well.

Draal doesn’t remember waking up. He also doesn’t remember how he ended up above all the water in the crystal cave. Why the cave was almost filled completely with water was another question. Where the others were, was his largest. He sits alone, hugging his legs to his chest with his remaining arm. The cave was filled with the echoes of air from outside. It almost sounded like humans moaning. When they get loud he thinks of them.

He thinks of training Jim in the backyard. Of Toby always trailing right behind the trollhunter. Even when he didn’t have a weapon. He thinks of Claire and how easily she impressed Trollmarket. He thinks of Blinky and Aaarrrgghh!!! watching after the humans. They did so with such an air of care. He knew they could be gentle. Draal had just never seen so much of it from other trolls before.

He misses his family. Searching the filled-in cave for his arm was slowly driving him insane.

* * *

Angor Rot woke up in darkness. It wasn’t the first time. He had been locked in darkness for so many years before. His soul trapped inside of Morgana’s grasp. Angor flinches. He isn’t sure if it is at the thought or the neverending quiet. Now he knows that his soul is no longer hers. He became his own again. Whole, with just a sliver of her powers that he had asked for in the beginning.

This isn’t The Shadow Realm. He knows that much at least. It doesn’t feel like he’s swimming. The dark is there, but there is no substance in it. He couldn’t really move. There was nothing. Angor tries to move his limbs. Stretching was all he could manage. This place was an absence. A black hole where anything unlucky enough to fall in is sealed away. It’s not where Morgana went. So at least she was somewhere else. He knows it could be worse.

He could be dead. The trollhunters must believe he is. So why wasn’t he?

* * *

Draal doesn’t know how long it was before he got up. He never found his arm. So he climbed out alone. He fell into the water a few times. Even as he left he could still hear the sounds of his splashing vibrating off the walls. The water sings a song as he runs into a caved-in entrance.

The water forms a beat along with his moves. He would throw a rock away, then a wave would smack the wall. Another rock more waves. It almost lulls him into a trance. The only thing that keeps Draal from falling into a dull sense of living was a bit of sunshine. It caught on his horns before ever gracing his eyes. Yet the flash was just enough to pull his attention away from his work.

It was at the very top. Just a little crack at the top of the cave in. It was the first time he had seen natural light. The glow of the crystals had begun to feel normal. Now Draal remembers how ethereal they were the first time he saw them. When he realizes what the light means, Draal’s chest falls. He would have to wait for nightfall, or else he would die as soon as he escapes.

He sighs out of frustration. If he had both hands he would have slammed them together. Instead, all Draal can do is slide his back down a wall, and the back of his arm into it. He was trapped.

* * *

Angor Rot covers his eyes when a bright light appears. It was as bright as the sun on a hot afternoon. He would never understand humans. The light grows larger. It replaces all the darkness in this realm. He thinks to run from it but remembers he could not move. The dark was empty. Angor Rot was sure the light would be just as empty.

As it engulfs him he burns. His skin grows hard as the light swallows him whole. He has no idea what was happening, but this must be his way to die. This would finally kill him.

* * *

Draal crawls out of the cave as soon as there was enough space. He wouldn’t say it was slipping out as much as scraping his body over the pile of stones. Besides a few sparks, scratches, and his teeth aching, it was over quickly. Relatively painlessly. Blinky would have something for him. If the pain even lasts that long. Draal imagines it is a long walk back to Trollmarket. Especially since he has no memories of how he got here.

Days were spent wandering around aimlessly. He chose to go opposite of the waterfall. Following the stars he recognized. They were just as strange as this place was.

* * *

Angor woke up in the middle of a forest. A leaf landing in his empty eye socket startled him up. He threw his arm out. An attempt to push back any enemy. The leaf falls gently into his lap.

It was an ugly crusty brown. There were small holes scattered throughout it. It was dead and decaying. Just like him. He had been the leaf for hundreds of years now.

A crash through the trees and Angor was back on the ground. Pinned under a large blue troll he is stuck on his back. He reaches for his knife. Grasping at empty air he realizes it must have gone where Morgana had.

"Who are you?" He asks cautiously growing still. He could not fight if he could not get up. Already his strength refused to move the giant troll.

The troll shifts slowly above him. Careful to avoid the sunspots breaking through the leaves. His large horns have speckles of grey in them now. He was burnt.

The apologetic look on Draal's face quickly changes to disdain.

"You!"

* * *

Draal was angry. How had he found Angor Rot here? Did the assassin stay behind to make sure he was dead? The caves were a few days travel away now. If that was his job he was doing poor at it.

Draal pins the ancient troll's hands down. He would have no tricks from him today. "Why are you out here Angor Rot?"

"I could ask you the same thing, but I assure you I have no idea."

The confusion he felt must have been clear as a full moon on his face. Angor's eye rolls in its socket. "You've been gone for a while. Were you lost little warrior?"

He squeezes his arms tightly. Once he hears the slight cracking Draal lessens his grip. The other troll looks unbothered. If anything he was only slightly annoyed. “Do not talk down to me,”

“Hard to do from on the ground. If you want to get back to the trollhunter then get off.”

“You know where Jim is?”

“Last time I saw him, he was in Arcadia.”

“So do you know where we are?”

“No,” Angor Rot admits looking mildly bored now. “But I have ways to find out.”

Draal sneers and pushes his face closer. “How do I know this isn’t one of Gunmar’s tricks?”

“Gunmar is dead.”

That was enough to cause Draal to lax his hold. He falls back a little as the news settles in. Gunmar was dead? How long had he been trapped? How had he survived Angor Rot’s poison. Draal’s world felt as if it was collapsing in on him. He needed to get back to his friends. Now.

* * *

Angor jumps out of Draal’s hold. The larger blue troll looks stun. He brushes off some of the dead forest remains. The troll must have been lost and alone for days at least. The last time he had seen him was, wait.

“How did you survive?”

“I woke up in the crystal cave. It was filled with water. I spent so much time alone, watching my reflection in the water, trying to find my-” his words drift off as he looks at the stump.

“H-how did Gunmar die?”

“The trollhunter killed him.”

“He did?” A bit of pride slips into his voice. His body straightens up a bit. Draal seems to forget all about the fact that they were enemies.

“Yes,” Angor looks around the forest. The sun was beginning to sink. “Where are the caves from here?”

Draal gestures towards the SouthEast of them. He looks up at the setting sun with annoyance. With how many sun poison spots he had, it had caused him plenty of grievances today.

“Why did he not kill you?”

It was a reasonable question. Angor had expected it to come sooner. “I betrayed Morgana.”

His eyes grow wide and Draal once again grabs Angor with his good hand. “Morgana! She was freed? Jim, was he-”

“Fine son of Kajingar. Jim was fine. The girl, Claire, sealed her away.”

A smile spreads over Draal’s face as light fills his eyes. He wraps his arm around Angor and lifts him up with ease. “Great news! That, that is just great news!” He drops him and cheers. “I must get back. The trollhunter has had quite an adventure during my absence.”

With curiosity he watches Draal cheer. “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why do you need to get back? The trollhunter is doing fine without you.” He didn’t know the changes Jim had gone through. Or how Arcadia has changed. Would any of them still be there? After all, neither of them know how long they had been away.

“It doesn’t matter if he needs me. I swore to protect the trollhunter. So I will return to do just that.”

“Do you have any idea where you’re going?”

Draal’s silence answers all of his questions.

“You would never make it back. The sun would take you before then.”

“I must try!” There was the temper Angor was used to. It was the first familiar thing he had experienced since returning. Maybe the light had a reason for freeing him. Perhaps some greater power wanted him he. Or this could all be another trick from Morgana. If she had found a way to still manipulate the world with her powers from the Shadow Realm then she truly was unstoppable.

“Do you know the way?” Draal asks watching him suspiciously now.

“Yes,” he lies.

“Then show me.”

“Why?”

Draal looks down at his arm. He couldn’t think of a reason.

“If I help you back then I want a guarantee.”

“A guarantee?”

“From the trollhunter. A guarantee that I can go and be left alone. I don’t want to fight anymore. WIth Gunmar dead and Morgana sealed I have earned my peace. You are his guardian. You can convince Jim to make the promise.”

“How do you know he will keep it?”

Angor raises an eyebrow. The trollhunter was a lot of things but he had only ever broken his word once. To simply leave someone alone, well that was a simple task for him to keep.

Draal laughs. “True.” He had said nothing, and yet Draal knew the truth. Jim was honorable. More so then most of the trolls he surrounds himself with. He holds out his hand.

“We have a deal?”

“Yes.” Draal agrees and Angor pushes his hand down.

“Follow me son of Kajingar. Or else we will be lost in these woods forever.”

Without argument, he falls behind Angor. Silence fills the air between them as they move from shade to shade. They had until sunrise to find safety. As well as several days journey to make it back. It would be agonizing, he is sure. He had never known the warrior to be quiet save for when he was under Gunmar’s control. He would have questions. After all, Angor had been the one to try and kill him. He was also the one who betrayed his own side at the last minute. Draal had no idea what happened after the cave.

He knew nothing about Merlin or Morgana. Had no idea of Gunmar’s defeat or Jim’s change. These days would be filled with Draal asking questions. With Angor deflecting most of them. In a way, he was looking forward to seeing the other trolls face. It would be interesting, to say the least. If he survives the long journey ahead with Angor.


End file.
